During the second pre-consultation meeting in Guatemala, the team and the proposed methodology to conduct the Cultural and Spiritual Impact Study of the "Escobal" mining right in the Xinka People was accepted.
As a result of a protective action filed by the environmental organization Calas, the Constitutional Court (CC) ordered in September 2018, to carry out through the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), a community consultation in the area of operations of the mine, in El Escobal, in the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores, department of Santa Rosa.
In the context of the process of the resumption of operations of the San Rafael Mine, the first pre-consultation meeting was held and it was agreed to conduct a study of the spiritual and cultural impact of the mining right on the Xinka indigenous people.
Following a protective action filed by the environmental organization Calas, the Constitutional Court (CC) ordered in September 2018, to carry out through the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), a community consultation in the area of operations of the mine, in El Escobal, in the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores, department of Santa Rosa.
After the Constitutional Court decided to keep the "Extracción Minera Fénix" project suspended, the private sector is asking the authorities to start the community consultation process as soon as possible, in an objective and clear way.
The operations of the mine located in the department of Izabal were suspended since July 2019 as a result of a legal appeal filed by a group of neighbors, who argued that the community consultation process for the operation of the mining project had not been exhausted.
The Constitutional Court decided to keep the "Extracción Minera Fénix" project, located in the department of Izabal, suspended and ordered the community consultation process to be carried out within 18 months.
Following the Guatemalan Constitutional Court's order of a community consultation as a requirement to resume operations at the San Rafael Mine, the company is now claiming that the timelines for the process are not clear.
Given the doubts that exist about the term that the government has to complete the process of community consultation, the mining company has decided to make another staff cut, given that it is unknown how long it will be before they can resume mining operations, which were halted on July 3, 2017.
Following the order to hold community consultations as a requirement for resuming operations at the San Rafael Mine in Guatemala, the authorities are waiting for the ruling to be be made firm in order to start a pre-consultation process.
After more than 300 days of waiting for a decision from the authorities, as a result of an appeal for legal protection filed by the environmental organization Calas, the Constitutional Court (CC) last week ordered a community consultation to be carried out, through the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), into the operations area of the mine, in El Escobal, in the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores, department of Santa Rosa.
At last the Constitutional Court of Guatemala has spoken about the operation of Minera San Rafael, which has been paralyzed for more than a year, ordering a community consultation as a requirement to resume operations.
The project has been halted since mid-2017, when the environmental organization Calas filed an application for a declaration of fundamental rights against the mine, arguing that the Ministry of Energy and Mines had not carried out the community consultations before authorizing the operation licenses.
A tender is being launched for field works for the validation of the study of "Road interconnection and urban rail passenger transport north-south axis in Guatemala City."
Guatemala Government Purchase 6988660:
"The objectives of the consultancy required are the following:
The Constitutional Court has upheld suspension of the license for the Oxec I and II hydroelectric stations, for allegedly failing to consult indigenous peoples in the area before starting the projects.
The decision taken by the Constitutional Court (CC) is seen by the private sector as a threat to legal certainty in the country, because of the projects that are at stake and the effect it will have on other investments that may no longer be made in Guatemala if orders continue to be given to suspend mining and energy projects.
The business sector is against making retroactive consultations on mining and energy projects as they are already under development and is demanding regulation of the implementation of the ILO Convention 169 in order to protect investments.
From a statement issued by the CACIF:
Given recent judgments by the courts, related to consultations on the ILO Convention 169, as well as violent acts committed against some projects which have impacted millions of Guatemalans socially and economically, the organized private sector wishes to declare that:
Guatemalan Entrepreneurs are asking for the consultations with communities about the environmental impact of mining and infrastructure projects to be regulated.
The Guatemalan Chamber of Industry (CIG) and the Union of Extractive Companies (GEE) has proposed the creation of a regulation governing community consultations, believing that these should be one more indicator in the approval process, and should not be binding in nature.